There's something BIG to be said about friends who have lived a life which was honourable, generous, full of faith and hope, admirable in word and deed, and then who suffered courageously. My friend Roger was one of those persons. He recently died of a Motor Neuron Disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
We watched this vivacious 57 year old man fight a disease which ravaged his healthy body reducing it to a skeleton of its former self. However, his spirit did not waver. He walked with a hope and fought courageously against this foe. He gave the rest of us more courage and shame (for ever complaining of our petty physical issues) as we cheered alongside him and his faithful wife Gaynor- right up to the end.
There's something BIG to be said about those who walk through the trials of life and carry on (not missing a beat). We've now lived life long enough to have seen how life's challenges derail individuals or grandly show what resilient stuff others are made of.
Finishing Strong is all about taking the "junk" of life and living through it with strength and hope beyond yourself. It's about a reliance on a heavenly strength that you knew you didn't possess. Finishing Strong is about courage and integrity. It's about picking oneself up once again (not being perfect) and getting right back on the bucking bronco. You are bolder, less beholden to the superficialities of life, more meaningful in your encounters, and more aware of how precious each day we have lived really was.
When Roger was my age, he didn't know that this train was going to hit him and that one day, when he woke up, life would never be the same. But, Roger was prepared spiritually. It was as if the whole of his former days had been spent wisely in preparation for this season. He lived life to it's fullest, he gave God credit for his joy and the big blessings in life, and he never blamed God for this disease. He knew that disease was part of the fallen world we all live in.
Roger looked towards another world. A Kingdom he couldn't fathom but trusted was there waiting for him with a whole cheering squad of others welcoming him "HOME". This faith kept him going through many a breathless, choking, weak moment. This Finishing Strong doesn't go unnoticed in the Kingdom Realm nor in this Earthly Realm.
Farewell, our Dear Roger! We know that you are dancing and singing with a new body.....
Well Done for Finishing Strong!
by Barbara James (works as an Educator in Europe)
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